Sivarajah will take her 6th District campaign to a primary

With Tom Emmer the odds-on favorite to be endorsed by Republicans on Saturday in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District, the other two Republican congressional candidates are looking ahead to an August primary.

Anoka County Board Chairwoman Rhonda Sivarajah will take her congressional campaign to a primary election, she announced Wednesday in an interview with the Times.

The 6th District seat is being vacated by Rep. Michele Bachmann, who is serving her fifth term. Republicans are set to endorse a successor Saturday in Monticello.

The other GOP candidate in the 6th District, former state Rep. Phil Krinkie, said Wednesday that he won't attend Saturday's convention or seek the endorsement. Krinkie also said for the first time that he's mulling a third-party run but said a Republican primary remains his most likely path.

Both Sivarajah and Krinkie long have left open the possibility of running in a primary. Only Emmer has said he'll abide by the GOP endorsement.

Sivarajah still intends to seek the endorsement Saturday, but said she expects Republican delegates to endorse Emmer on the first ballot.

Emmer, the 2010 GOP nominee for governor and a former state representative from Delano, boasts the backing of party activists, a commanding lead in campaign funds raised and widespread name identity from his statewide run four years ago.

Sivarajah said she wanted to announce her primary plans before the convention so delegates wouldn't be taken off-guard.

"I really believe that the voters in the district deserve a choice," Sivarajah said. "I believe that the voters will want someone that has a record of real accomplishment, rather than rhetoric."

Krinkie considers joining third party

Krinkie, explaining his decision to skip Saturday's endorsing convention, cited poor participation in this year's Republican caucuses and what he described as their "top-down process" in picking a congressional nominee. Krinkie also said he feels it would be hypocritical to seek the party endorsement, then ignore it by running in a primary if he didn't get it.

In floating the possibility of a third-party run Wednesday, Krinkie said he has been asked if he'd consider running as a Constitution Party candidate. He also said he has spoken to Tom Horner, the Independence Party's candidate for governor in 2010. The Independence Party last week endorsed a Forest Lake man, John Denney, for the 6th District seat.

Yet Krinkie declined to say if he's thinking about running under the banner of either of those parties, saying only that "a third-party candidacy is not out of the question."

While his foes downplay the party endorsement, Emmer consistently has said his campaign is predicated on it.

Emmer showed he was in a strong position to collect the endorsement at February's precinct caucuses, when he easily won a test vote of caucusgoers.

Republicans move toward primaries

Wednesday's announcements come as Republicans throughout Minnesota are rethinking their approach to selecting nominees through primary elections.

Minnesota Republicans traditionally have eschewed primaries, but that looks set to change in 2014. Some GOP candidates in the governor's and U.S. Senate races appear ready to run in primaries if they're not endorsed. Top-of-ballot primaries could boost Republican voter turnout in the 6th District primary.

Sivarajah acknowledged she'll face an uphill battle against Emmer. But Sivarajah said she's betting voters, including independents and conservative Democrats, will be impressed by her service on the Anoka County board, when she says she helped reduce the county's levy and debt and repeal its wheelage tax.

"I plan to go out and earn the vote," Sivarajah said. "Certainly, Tom has some money. But I have the record of accomplishment."

Krinkie said Emmer has significant liabilities as a candidate. Groups supporting DFLers made Emmer's two arrests on drunk-driving-related charges — and his subsequent push in the state Legislature to delay revocation of licenses for suspected drunk drivers — the centerpiece of ads against him in the 2010 governor's race.

"Mr. Emmer has a significant number of negatives," Krinkie said. "All you have to do is replay the things that were brought up about his background in the gubernatorial race."